Moon Servant
by RunningwithThestrals
Summary: After the loss of their house elf, Dobby, the Malfoys procure a new servant.
1. A New Home

Chapter 1

The night after the change always left Ridley feeling weak and miserable and this morning was no different. She awoke on the cold stone floor of the dungeon she had been forced to transform in every month for the past four years. She could feel the faint trickles of blood coming from where the heavy collar with its many inward facing spikes had dug into her neck. Any minute now she would hear the pounding footsteps of Boulstridge coming down the stairs to unlock her and bring her upstairs to prepare breakfast and do her morning chores. But when the sound of multiple people coming down the stairs Ridley had a gut feeling that it did not bode well for her.

Sure enough Boulstridge and the other man, who Ridley did not recognize, approached her and thrusted some ratty clothes and a pair of tattered shoes at her. She quickly got dressed in hopes to avoid the crack of Boulstridge's walking stick across her shins that often came when she moved too slowly.

"Come on, hurry up. We don't have all day!" barked Boulstridge, his fist tightening around the walking stick.

"Pack your things and be quick about it" growled the other man.

Confused to why she needed to pack the few personal items she was allowed to keep when she was brought to Boulstridge's house she nevertheless did as she was told. Putting her books, broken quills and ink, some various odds and ins and the last picture she had of her life before it had been ruined that night of the full moon almost five years ago into a canvas bag and shouldered it.

"Get the hood on her Capper" he ordered, and the other man fitted a thick wool hood over Ridley's head. The strong odor of mildew coming from the hood filled her nose and made her nauseous. The two men grabbed her forcefully by the arms and lead her clumsily up the stairs; made difficult by the fact that the shoes she was wearing were a size too big and caused her trip on the slick stone steps.

"We'll have to take the car, so just throw her in the backseat and we'll head out. It shouldn't take too long to get to that pompous git Malfoy's manor." Said the voice that had to belong to Capper. She heard the click of a car door and before she knew it she was landed hard on the plush leather seat. With her heart pounding and her mind racing with thoughts about where she was going and what was going to happen to her when she arrived; she attempted to sit up but the soft seat of the car was such a delightful change from the hard dungeon floor her exhaustion from the previous night's transformation overtook her and she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

The car came to an abrupt stop that shook Ridley out of her troubled sleep; and she opened her eyes only to see the darkness from the inside of the hood.

"Come on, we're already late" said Capper as he and Boulstridge got out and opened the door to the back seat. The cool morning air made Ridley shiver as she was roughly hoisted from the car and lead down what seemed to be a rather large gravel driveway and up a few stone steps. She heard a loud echoing knock on what had to be a door and then the faint sound of footsteps coming from the other side. There was a turn of a knob and the sound of hinges creaking that told her that the door had been opened.

"You're late" said a nameless dignified sounding voice

"Our sincerest apologies Mr. Malfoy" answered Boulstridge in a tone that sounded very insincere to Ridley.

"Well come in, and wipe your feet" ordered the voice that belonged to Mr. Malfoy.


	2. The Deal is Made

And with that Ridley was led across the threshold and into Malfoy Manor where the hood on her head was finally removed. The stark contrast from the darkness of the hood and the light shining through the many windows made her eyes hurt. When she was finally adjusted to the light she took a look around the room as Capper and Boulstridge exchanged pleasantries with Mr. Malfoy and a very stern looking woman that Ridley assumed to be Mrs. Malfoy. The room was large with rich green walls covered with portraits of Blond, pointed faced wizards and witches. An ornate marble fireplace took up almost one whole wall of the room and perched on its mantle was a plethora of what looked like antique family heirlooms, all emblazoned with the Malfoy family crest that also decorated the rug that she was standing on. This had to be the fanciest house that Ridley had ever set foot in.

"So this is the beast?" said Mr. Malfoy directing his eyes at Ridley.

"Yes sir, one of our most obedient" stated Boulstridge with a hint of pride.

"We will see about that, wont we Narcissa?" Mr. Malfoy asked the stern looking witch in the corner.

"I still don't like the idea of having this dangerous creature in our house Lucius" responded Narcissa aiming an expression of pure disgust towards Ridley.

Lucius crossed the room and joined his wife in the corner and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and Mr. Malfoy went back to where the other three were standing.

"Would you, uh gentlemen, please explain to my wife the precautions in place to insure our safety when the full moon comes"

"Sure thing" said Capper stepping forward.

"The week leading up to the full moon we recommend that you administer the wolfsbane potion as to allow her to retain her human mind when she transforms."

"Then" interjected Boulstridge, as he removed the spiked collar from the bag he was carrying "the evening of the full moon just slip this here collar around her neck and attach a strong chain; then just lock the door and cast a few sound proofing charms and come and unlock her in the morning. There shouldn't be any problems, this one here has never given me any trouble and I've had her for years."

Mrs. Malfoy did not look completely convinced but nodded towards her husband.

"I though all you old wizarding families had house elves to do your bidding?" pondered Capper.

"Well, not that it is any of your business" hissed Lucius "but as it so happens that saint Potter lost me my house elf last year."

"In any case, I'm sure you and your family will be quite happy with Ridley here. She can start work just as soon as we sign some paperwork and get the nasty business of payment out of the way." Said Boulstridge, rubbing his hands together and pulling a small stack of papers from his bag.

"So" Boulstridge continued, as he laid out the papers on the handsome wooden desk near one of the windows. Picking up one of the papers he cleared his throat and began to read, "The werewolf known as Ridley is hereby transferred into the ownership of one Lucius Malfoy. She has fully registered and assigned the identification number 0042"

Capper seized Ridley by the hair and showed the Mafoys the number that was tattooed on her neck in the first week she arrived at Boulstridge's.

"The Malfoy family assumes all risks involved with owning a werewolf and have agreed to pay a sum of 1000 galleons to Mr. Vincent Boulstridge. If I could just have you sign here Mr. Malfoy" asked Boulstridge handing Mr. Malfoy a quill.

There was the sound of the quill scratching against paper and then the contract rolled itself up and floated back into Boulstridge's bag.

"Now there's just the matter of payment, and me and my colleague will be on our way."

Mr. Malfoy reached into one of the drawers of the desk and pulled out a fairly large bag with the Gingotts seal on it and passed it into Boulstridge's outstretched hands. The gold inside jingled as it was lowered into his bag.

"Okay then, everything seems to be in order. Here's her registration papers, the collar, and her wand. It's up to you if you allow her to use it, she can do chores with magic or without it. Please don't hesitate to call if you have any problems."

And with that Capper and Boulstridge left the room and made their way back to the front door and out into the afternoon sunshine.


	3. New Masters

Ridley was left in the vast manor with her new masters looking her up and down, silently scrutinizing her ragged clothes and the scars that covered her arms.

"Well then let's get started, shall we?" said Mr. Malfoy clapping his hands together, the sound of which made her jump.

The two Malfoys started to walk towards the door of the study and Ridley quietly followed keeping her arms tight to her sides as to not accidently touch anything. They walked down a wide hallway painted in the same green as the study and decorated with images and sculptures of serpents. Near the end of the hallway they reached a heavy wood door with a handsome lock and a knob shaped like a snake's head. Lucius removed a ring of gold keys and opened the door to reveal a short set of stone steps leading down to a room a little bigger than a closet.

"Welcome home" cackled Mr. Malfoy as he grabbed the collar of Ridley's shirt and thrusted her down into the room. She landed on the cold, damp floor with a thud and looked back up at the door only to see it slammed and the lock turned.

It was pitch black in the room apart from the miniscule amount of light let in by the small circular window at the far end. She groped around the space and found some candle stubs on a small shelf. She lit the candles and took a look around the room that was to be her new home. Under the small window there was a thin mattress and a moth eaten blanket, the shelf where she had found the candles also held a small chipped teacup and bowl.

 _All the comforts of home_ she thought to herself. She took one of the candles from the shelf and set in near the bed where she sat down and unpacked her bag. The quills, ink, and parchment joined the cup and bowl on the shelf while the photo was placed under the mattress for safe keeping. She set the nearly empty bag off to the side and lay back on the bed, just as was the case in the car she immediately descended into sleep.

The sound of the lock turning and creaking of the hinges of the heavy door jolted her awake.

"GET UP! You're here to work not sleep." Howled Mr. Malfoy

"Yes sir" she said jumping up and blowing out the candles before she made her way up the stairs.

"I expect dinner to be done and on the table in one hour" he ordered handing her a list of instructions and marshaling her down the hallway to the kitchen.

"Yes sir" nodded Ridley as she looked down at the complicated plan she was expected to execute.

The kitchen was large and full of everything that one would need to prepare the meal, if only Ridley had knowledge of anything about cooking such a fine meal. She knew that house elves were very skilled in preparing grand feasts using magic, but even if she knew the spells they would be useless without her wand. She read through the recipe again hoping that everything would make since the second time through but she was mistaken. With her one-hour time limit dwindling away she started gathering the various ingredients and putting them together in the best way she could so that the finished products would at least resemble the picture in the cook book.

When the final dish was pulled out of the oven and placed on the sizable dining room table she went back into the kitchen and hoped that it all tasted fine to the Malfoys. She heard footsteps down the hall and then the screeching of chairs being pulled out and finally the clinks of silverware on dishes. Straining with her ear to the door to hear any criticisms from the diners on the other side of the door she couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She didn't know what to expect if her new masters disapproved of the meal; she cooked for Boulstridge almost every night but it was never this elaborate.

All of a sudden the door swung open and connected with the side of her face knocking her to the ground.

"Now now, we mustn't eavesdrop" said Lucius calmly holding out his hand.

"I'm sorry sir, I… I just wanted to make sure you were enjoying the meal" uttered Ridley as she started to get back to her feet, reaching for Mr. Malfoy's outstretched hand only to have it snatched backed while he laughed.

"Get up wolf, it's time we go over the rules" barked Malfoy as he walked back into the dining room.

The word "wolf" stung the moment she heard it; she didn't ask to be bitten, she didn't ask to turn into a monster every full moon.


End file.
